One of the things I hear mentioned a lot about being a Jehovah's Witnesses. Is that once you leave, it ruins you for all other religions. As you think that you know all the faults of other religions, and could not put any faith in them. Is such a statement really true?
Think about where you were born. If you were born 150 years ago or more, most likely you would have never traveled any further then 50 miles from the place of your birth. Reason being, transportation was poor and it cost money to travel. So you would often see the rest of the world through black and white pictures and small descriptions from authors and columnist. Some of these people might not have liked the places, and thus their description would have reflected that. In the same respect, others might have loved them, and their words would have expressed that feeling. So as you set on some farm in the middle of Kansas and looked through these books, you would have seen the world through another's eyes. You might think that is all their is, and thus felt some fulfillment in thinking this glimpse was enough. Well along came the automobile, trains, and the airplane and suddenly the limit to which you could travel was endless. No longer did someone have to see the world in a photo, they could now travel and see it for themselves. How different did it look?
Well when I was younger I once saw a picture of the temple of Kuclakan(sp) in Mexico. It looked okay, but I did not see what was so special. Then this last year I traveled to Mexico and saw the temple for myself, it was amazing. The photo did not do it justice. The architecture, the feeling, the ability to see the fine artistic sculptures and everything else associated with it. It was a trip I never thought would be so fantastic and worth it. So what does that tell me?
Well it tells me that as a civilization we have come a long way. No longer do we need to sit in our homes and accept the words and photos of others. We can step out and see them on our own. We can travel on the planet, or with our minds through information on the internet or a good book. How does that apply to my topic then, "that being a Jehovah's Witnesses ruins us for other religions?"
Do not assume that just because the Watchtower said it, it is true. Do not assume that because that just because someone from the platform illustrated something a certain way, it is the correct image for your mind. Never assume that you have all the answers about the worlds religions, because some little red book briefly covered them with a motive to proving them wrong. Above all, do not think your journey is complete ... just because another man or woman told you so.
Think of yourself in the religion, as that person sitting on the farm in Kansas, 150 years ago, learning about the world through the pictures and words of others. Think about yourself now, as a person with a first class ticket to anywhere you want to go in the world. As you now have the ability to see and learn the world and it's religions first hand.
Have a nice flight, and take lots of photos with your own camera.
My thought
Does leaving Jehovah's Witnesses ruin you
by kenpodragon 12 Replies latest jw friends
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kenpodragon
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Simon
Great post.
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LB
JW's were the last shot at religion for me. If I am grateful for anything it's that it has ruined other religions for me. But that's a good thing in my book.
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chester
I will never join another religion.
I feel they are all a racket and snare.
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Lost Diamond
I'm flying.....
I'm done with religion per se, but not spirituality. I'm still open to explore........anything. My horizons have expanded and I'm really excited to learn about everything and anything!
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DJ
Hi Ken,
That's what I did eventually do! I ended up searching and found what I believe. The only problem was that it was not in any man-made org. Which is where I looked at first! Finally, after my journey had tired me I looked up and found Him or should I say He found me? I liked your post! I wish it was as easy as you made it sound, don't you? While we were being raised from children in the borg we never did get that opportunity to 'travel' did we? The impact that is has made on us is so intense that it makes your story a truly lovely one but only a fairy tale in reality. Of course, it's never to late to start using your perspective is it? Good post!
Love, Dj
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Dia
Well, this is a very interesting question, indeed...
I would say that for a long time I ASSUMED I would have no interest in any other religion. And yet...still, something was very appealing to me about other people's faith. Especially SOME other people's faith.
Well, I went to NO church or religion for about a decade, tho I have always prayed and just paid attention. Then I started looking into them all, to one extent or another. I spent at least some time in dozens and dozens of different churches.
Somewhere along the way, I thought I had figured out that your experience in a particular church had NOTHING to do with the doctrine and EVERYTHING to do with the individual leader of that individual church, the pastor, or whatever.
Always, I guess, tho I probably didn't realize it for a very long time, I was looking for the 'knowing them by their works' thing.
And it has brought me full circle to Catholicism (which, I might add - unlike long ago and unlike many other Christian churches - is the MOST recognizant and respectful of the spirituality of persons of OTHER Christian faiths).
It seems that, if you're going to be Christian, Catholicism is really what that's about.
I have come to have a great love and appreciation for the beauty of the medals and statues and music and 'aura' that JWs had the gall to denounce as 'evil'.
And, an appreciation for the beauty of the Holidays and all the many wonderful things they have 'borrowed', melded and incorporated from other times and cultures and faiths. To UNDERSTAND their background is to learn a great deal about God and about faith and about Christianity.
I feel 'home' in Catholicism.
But I still (to no criticism from my church, by the way) LOVE to explore the faiths of the world.
And, for people who would like to do that, I very highly recommend Huston Smith's books on religions of the world (he explores all the major ones, in such a way as you can get an idea of what they are all about). Smith has even done a 6-part series on world religions for PBS with Bill Moyers.
He had a very unique background when it comes to religious upbringing and he uses it in the very best way possible.
In the end, I find a real truth in the introductory text of the Catholic Cathechism, which observes that, in every place and through all of time, 'man is a religious being'.
We all recognize God and even gesture to the same places (the sky, or our own hearts) when we speak of Him. No culture has ever existed that had no relation, no connection, no communion with God.
We all do it. And we almost always do it together, in one form or another. When we can find the place where that feels right.
He and 'we' are part of the same stuff.
It is universal.
Presently, I pray and ponder the reality that Christians and Muslims are all praying to the same God.
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Carmel
Well it certainly spoiled it for me for nearly twenty years. My studies in science brought me back to an appreciation for the creative force behind the contingent world and reassured me that there is reality to the metaphysical. Like many, I found the other religions wanting and were not for me but then I was still looking through JW lenses. After nearly two decades and a more objective analytical approach, its not the religion that was bad, it's what humans have turned it into that sucks.
carmel of the "found the light" class
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freedom96
I think we need to be careful about saying "Never again!" The fact is, that we were mislead. It happened to us, it has happened to others, and it will happen again.
We can keep our eyes open this time, and now we know what to look out for.
In my opinion, to say "Never again" to another religion or spiritual experience, is kind of like saying "Never again" after a bad relationship fails. We are hurt, we pick ourselves up, and carry on, and eventually we find someone else that we like, and perhaps fall in love with. An exception is of course if we just don't have any interest in religion period.
The Watchtower hurt us, we can and will heal, and if it is right for us, we will have the opportunity to experience other things in life, regardless of what it is.
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Marilyn
I did the waking up process between 1976 and 79'. During those three years of realising the WTS was highly problematic, I decided the whole concept of God was also highly problematic. It was more comfortable for me to give up on God when I gave up on the WT. I used to say that the WTS had taught me to analyse religion and theirs didn't measure up any better than any of the others. I have met some wonderful Christians, but generally I've observed religion doesn't work. It's all talk. No matter which way I look at it I just can't see how there could be a God.
Marilyn